On a wing & a prayer

Silver Hawks' Swoop and bride exchange vows at Coveleski Stadium

Silver Hawks' Swoop and bride exchange vows at Coveleski Stadium

August 20, 2006|ED RONCO Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- She's a Catholic girl from Lakeville who played saxophone in the school band and loves go-karts. He's a Jewish boy from South Bend who played the drums at Clay High School and likes to make people laugh. Oh yeah, and when the weather gets warm, he periodically dresses up like a gigantic bird. Alan Rubin, the alter-ego of South Bend Silver Hawks mascot Swoop, married Melissa Wolfe, his girlfriend of four years, in an interfaith ceremony Saturday over home plate at Coveleski Stadium.

Don't worry, he wore a tux.

The couple met at the ballpark. Melissa runs Karts Are Us, the store in Niles that donated a four-wheeler Swoop used for his entrances onto the field the last few seasons.

The grand entrance doesn't exist anymore -- Swoop now just runs onto the field when announced -- but the relationship stuck.

Alan and Melissa saw each other frequently, especially before games.

"I'd go back there and see what she was doing," Alan said. "She'd come back there and watch me go around when I was in my costume, also."

So on Saturday, as Melissa readied herself in the Umpire's room and Alan made sure the right music would play through the stadium's speakers, family and close friends filed onto the field while other guests took seats in the stands.

They've been planning it this way since they got engaged on July 23, 2005.

The aisle was lined with baseballs, a last minute substitution after the runner started to blow away.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen -- a full team of nine on each side -- lined up along the first and third baselines, and when the wedding was over, the groomsmen formed a tunnel with raised baseball bats.

But for all the baseballthemed details, this was really just an old fashioned love story, complete with nerves, tears and happy endings. "I have this big lump in my throat," Alan's mother, Carol Rubin, said before the ceremony.

Melissa smiled, so did Alan, and some people dabbed at their eyes with tissues.

Silver Hawks owner and former Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan smiled and held hands with his wife, Maggie, from seats E1 and E2 in Section 108. "He's terrific," Kernan said of Alan. "He's been the mascot for six years, and he's as good as we've ever seen."

Melissa said it's a lot of fun being "Mrs. Swoop," watching Alan play with children during the games and work the crowd. "People are like, Â?Does he act like that outside the suit?' " Melissa said. "Yes, he does."

As it turns out, underneath the gray feathers and behind the big yellow beak, there's a really nice guy who just loves to make the people around him happy.